June 18, 2007

Summer doldrums?

> Posted by Ted Hutton on June 18, 2007 01:36 PM

And who said the summer was going to be slow. (I think it was me).

Some lively debate going on, and thanks Coach K for jumping in. I believe Coack K and DTK are the only coaches who have posted, and their time and input are appreciated. We now know who the cool people are.

Coach K and I do get along. Really. Well, maybe not now, but we did until that last posting. One reason I enjoy covering him is that he has never been one to complain behind my back. That is appreciated.

He makes many good points, as usual. My point was that football is sucking up all the available money for a reason that makes sense. Not perfect sense, and something of a gamble, but a case can be made for it. It's a shame there is not enough to spread around, but that's the way it is, and probably will be for a while.

As far as getting my facts straight and salaries, I defer to The Suit, who is the one who pays the salaries and told me how he went about deciding the dollars. I looked at all of them a couple years ago, and will say the people I feel bad for are the assistants in ALL sports. Not sure how they make ends meet based on the numbers I saw.

But, I have to not-so-reluctantly depart from this debate, since tomorrow at this time I will be at L.L. Bean's in Freeport, Maine, getting the last few things I need for my seven-day trip down the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. 92 miles from Chamberlain Lake to Allagash Village.

Blessedly detached from links to the internet and cell phone systems, I will be catching brook trout and swatting away black flies and enjoying the quiet of the North Maine Woods. Call of the loon, cry of the coyote, mumbling of the moose and all that stuff.

If all goes well I will come back smelling like a campfire that was extinguisedh by smothering it with whiskey and fish guts. Can't wait.

I hope this trip goes better than last year, when I went to the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota and caught not just the small pike above, but a virus that went through all four of our crew and was so bad that we didn't even finish half a bottle of the several bottles of sipping whiskey we had brought along to pass around the campfire. I couldn't tell who was in worse shape, me or that pike. But the pike got tossed back into Friday Bay while I had no escape from the flu-like virus that made us hope the supply of toilet paper would hold up. The only good news was I lost about 10 pounds, and I am now working on the Boundary Waters Miracle Diet Book that should allow me to retire early.

In the meantime, hope everyone keeps talking. This site gets bombarded with spam, and I clean out at least 30 trash replies every day, so they might start showing up, and I apologize in advance for that.

And when I return, football season will be that much closer to kickoff.

June 16, 2007

Follow the dollars

> Posted by Ted Hutton on June 16, 2007 08:43 AM

Before we get back to the football stadium, let’s take a look at the one facility that has not had much done to it in a while.

Maybe the latest “renovation” to the baseball field was the pitcher’s mound put in behind the Owls dugout. (It might as well have been called “McBryde’s Mound,” because it was put in so he could warm up for his role as closer instead of running out to the bullpen).

McBryde played centerfield for most of the game, then came in to close, which is why Coach Cooney had the mound installed.

Prior to that, I think the port-a-potty by the visitor’s dugout might have been the last addition.

That said, Cooney has made it clear he wants a new stadium, and that he needs it for one reason, and that is recruiting.

The question is, does FAU really need a new baseball stadium, especially since the football stadium has yet to be built?

I don’t think there is any doubt which is more important to the athletic program, and it ain’t the diamond shaped one.

BASKETBALL FIRST

Let’s take a step back, though. If anyone needed a new or renovated facility, it was basketball, not baseball. Despite the effort to change it into something it wasn’t by renaming the FAU Gymnasium the FAU Arena (like calling a pit bull a poodle), it was still nothing more than a gym, and not much above what a large high school might have.

I remember Matt Doherty telling me that the trick was how to AVOID taking recruits on a tour of the place, especially the locker rooms, since they were so Division III. One concession stand, wooden bleachers…well, fans who have been there know what I am talking about. Takes you back to those days of mandatory high school pep rallies.

The move to the Sun Belt made the gym even more rinky-dink. I talked to a couple reporters who traveled with the Belt teams they covered, and they were astounded by what they saw when they arrived at the FAU “Arena.” The gym was bad enough, but no wireless or hi-speed internet hookups, and then the “interview room” was a classroom, complete with old-style desks so small they must have come from a middle school.

Walters also found out what he was up against when he made his first trip around the Belt and saw the facilities he would be recruiting against. The ocean is nice, as is Boca Raton, but not having a practice gym and a locker room better suited for a bus station is kind of tough to overcome.

By comparison, Cooney and the Diamond Owls had it pretty good.

Walters, Chancellor Dugan and FAU fans can thank Hurricane Wilma for the new renovations, since Wilma did big damage to the gym’s roof and insurance money is what is being used to remake the gym into something that may really resemble an Arena. Make no mistake, it will still be one of the smallest and least impressive facilities in the Sun Belt, but it won’t be quite the embarrassment it once was.

FAU still will have just one hardwood court on campus where every men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball games and practices must be held on, along with allowing time for intramural sports.

Baseball has the stadium field plus a practice field, so it will still be ahead even after renovations are complete.

You can take a photo tour of ongoing renovations. Go here, and click on Arena Renovations.

WIN AND THEY WILL…

Another thing not in baseball’s favor is attendance.

Sorry, but college baseball in Florida is just not a draw. Great players, many solid teams, but little interest. Baseball is big on some campuses, such as LSU, which led the nation in attendance in 2006, averaging 7,320. But only 11 schools averaged more than 4,000, with FSU 10th at 4,370. Florida was 14th with 3,515 and Miami 32nd at 1,819.

FAU? Well, last year FAU averaged 404 fans a game, but this year that plummeted to 280.

(The Feb. 2 home opener against Mississippi Valley State drew 458, the biggest crowd of the season. In its last home game, an important one against rival FIU, 291 fans showed on May 19. The 2006 attendance was boosted by the opening series against Tennessee, which drew about 1,000 fans for each of the three games.)

FAU made it into six regionals in seven years, and never saw a big bump in attendance as a result. Cooney blames FAU’s sports marketing for some of that, but winning also should attract fans, and for some reason, they are just not out there.

SO FEW DOLLARS, SO MANY NEEDS

While we can sympathize with Cooney and the Diamond Owls, it is clear the dollars are going to head to the football stadium.

I understand Cooney’s situation, but if the baseball team falters on the field should recruiting falter, it won’t be nearly as bad as if an on-campus football stadium is delayed or for some reason isn’t done.

If football gets a home with a Boca Raton address and starts making some money, all the boats will rise, including baseball. A baseball program, no matter how successful, can’t do that.

June 13, 2007

Legends Hard At Work

> Posted by Ted Hutton on June 13, 2007 08:13 AM

After she won another conference title, this time in the Sun Belt in FAU’s first season, and was conference Coach of the Year, I figured it was time to remind folks of just what a special person coach Joyce is.

If she had gotten into an Olympics or something similar that would have boosted her name recognition when she was still participating in sports, that might not have been as necessary. But take a look at just part of what she has done, and it is amazing. Take a look at all of it, and it is astounding. Softball, basketball, golf and volleyball, Joyce did it all and at the top level in each sport.

With her and The Voice, FAU has two coaches that have to rank as the tops in their profession. That they both landed at FAU is lucky for the student athletes and the fans.

They are similar in many ways. I think that trait that each has that has translated into their success is Confidence.

Joan Joyce just expects her teams to win, just as she expected herself to dominate in whatever sport she took up. That rubs off on her players. Even after losing the opening round game of the Sun Belt tournament, the players kept saying they were not worried, that they knew they would be playing Saturday (in the championship round). And they did, and they won.

Same with The Voice. He just knows that FAU will contend for a national championship, just like he said Louisville was on a collision course with a national championship, and before that he won a national championship at Miami. Sure, you roll your eyes and shake your head, but Louisville has been getting closer and closer, and it may take a while, but don’t sell FAU short.

This confidence is supported by unbridled optimism. These are two very Glass Half Full kind of folks, and add confidence with optimism and you have a pretty powerful blend that translates into good coaching.

Another sign of success is how players develop under these two coaches. We watched as Jared Allen go from rookie to polished QB in his four years, and linebacker Chris Laskowski from walk-on to MVP, among others.

Same with Joyce and softball. She took a girl whose high school and junior college coaches both thought she couldn’t pitch and made her Conference Pitcher of the Year in two seasons, and another whose batting average was nearly 100 points higher this season and became the Belt Player of the Year. Averages go up, defense improves, and the softball teams just keep getting better.

Both love what they are doing and plan on sticking with it. The Voice is 73 and signed through 2009, Joyce is 66 and said she will continue coaching as long as it is fun. Let’s hope they are both around for a while. Whomever follows them will literally be replacing a legend.

June 12, 2007

Back to THE STADIUM

> Posted by Ted Hutton on June 12, 2007 10:01 AM

OK, back to the big topic

As careful readers know, there was a meeting in May where the Board of Trustees got an update on the status of the overall construction project known as Innovation Village, which will includes dorms, retail space and the open-air football stadium.

The point man on this project is FAU Attorney David Kian. Kian got grilled pretty hard by the BOT, especially since there really was nothing but hot air in the room, instead of timelines and anything concrete that the BOT had apparently expected to see.

From what I could tell, Kian said things had gotten a bit off track when the planners decided to combine new dorms with off-campus employee housing. This apparently had sounded like a good idea at the time, but it seemed to suck up a lot of time and not much got done.

That is why the BOT was a bit perturbed.

BOT Chair Norm Tripp couldn’t have been more blunt, and he made sure the message was delivered by presenting it in several different ways: “We want to see some light at the end of the road, and dedicated time when we know we are going to play our first football game. We need to get moving, and I think everyone here feels the same way. Are we going to take some risks? Yes. But as long as they make sense. There is no question that FAU 20 years down the road will fill every dorm we build. I’d like to see it while I am still around. We need to get it done. We need to have somebody that can get it done. If you are the one who can get it done. I want something firm.
Got it, Mr. Kian?

There was some talk of the temporary stadium, and why it had been dangled out there as a possibility, only to be yanked away. One trustee said it was like coming downstairs on Christmas morning and finding the tree and presents all gone.

Here is what Kian had to say about that: “Regarding this fall. I apologize that it was floated be-fore due diligence was done. We were not prepared without broader benchmarks would warrant.” OK, my hands didn’t quite keep up with what he was saying, and it was said in that legalese style, but basically it was that when they got the numbers on how much it would cost (about $700,000), they realized there was no way to pay for it and had to back off.

But, here is the most important words spoken by Mr. Kian: “We are still looking at 2010 time frame for completion of construction of on-campus football stadium. The overall timeframe remains the same.”
“We slipped a little bit on overall plan. The schedule has not changed for the stadium. The schedule has changed for interim steps to get to the stadium.” He said the cost of the stadium would be about 60 to 70 million, and the overall project would total 100 to 150 million, depending on how many dorms they decide to build.

And here’s the way it was left -- Kian promised a firm timeline by September, which he assured the BOT would have realistic goals and dates when things would get done, working back from Septemember of 2010, when the football stadium would host its first game.

Tripp made it clear he and the BOT would be looking over Kian’s shoulder, since they had not been doing that up to this point and now found themselves behind in the plan.

June 10, 2007

Best in the Belt

> Posted by Ted Hutton on June 10, 2007 09:48 AM

When the dust settled, six FAU players had been picked in the MLB draft.

Not bad. In fact, FAU had the most players picked than any other team in the Belt (champ ULL had five taken).

What does this mean? Well, it is a BIG help to recruiting. Every kid who comes to FAU dreams of being on a big league team, and while FAU has yet to produce a major league star, they have had quite a few make big league rosters, and a load have gotten drafted.

Six is a jump from the four picked last year, which was a fewest since 2001. In 2000, nine Owls were drafted, the most in FAU history.

Widlansky goes in 11th round. For those Owls fans hoping that was low enough to keep him at FAU for his senior season.....

It's not happening. Just got off the phone with Robbie and he has pen in hand ready to sign with the Orioles. Hoping him the best. Nice kid who gave his all this season and deserves anything good that comes his way.

He will be joining Chris Salberg, who signed with Baltimor last week, and maybe they will be together later this summer on low-A somewhere. And they will now be in the minor league system with ex-Owl Jeff Fiorentino.

More interesting is the Daniel Cook was picked in the 20th and Mickey Storey in the 22nd. Tough choices there, since signing money won't be much.

Expect Cook to go because he is a junior and will have no leverage after next season. Despite place in draft, Bomback expected to sign, as well asl Philabaum.

Storey could be back. He will get a medical redshirt for this season, so will be a junior next year. If he has a strong season, he will move way up in the draft and could cash in.

I would like to think we'll see Mickey on the mound as an Owl in '08. A big season would be a win-win for FAU and Storey.

Pictures Speaking Loudly

> Posted by Ted Hutton on June 8, 2007 07:52 AM

Here are three pictures that present two compelling reasons why FAU wants, and needs, to build an on-campus stadium...

The first is from the groundbreaking ceremony for FIU's new stadium, the second is the drawing of UCF Stadium, which is nice to have. The Voice has had a drawing of a domed stadium in is office at the Oxley Center since the day he moved in.

But the next picture is the actual construction of the UCF Stadium, which will be ready for games this fall.

What that means while FAU is not just the only team in the Sun Belt without an on-campus stadium, it has now fallen behind its two major in-state recruiting competitors. UCF no longer has to show recruits an artist's drawing, and FIU can also take recruits out to show them the construction that is under way.

FAU has to point to an empty field and ask players to dream about what might be. That has worked remarkably well so far, thanks to The Voice's ability to make kids believe.

The reality is that FAU will still again be playing in a high school stadium in the warehouse district of Fort Lauderdale this season, and possibly next, and possibly in 2009. Plans are that the new structure will be in place in 2010.

And you know FIU, UCF and others are using Lockhart Stadium against FAU when they recruit. "Didn't you just get done playing in a high school stadium? Don't you want to play at a real college?"

There is a lot more to say on this, but sometimes pictures are worth a thousand words.

June 7, 2007

The Envy Factor

> Posted by Ted Hutton on June 7, 2007 07:17 AM

With all the Owls sports now in their summer hibernation, there are still things to talk about.

Some interesting postings of late, related to the facilities and FAU’s athletic program.

Let’s address a couple of them. First, one of my favorites.

OTHER FAU SPORTS COACHES DISLIKE FOOTBALL

I have talked to a lot of FAU coaches, and they are all smart enough to realize the importance of football. I have never heard a coach say football should never have been started at FAU. In fact, all seem to be in agreement that it has been a boost to the entire athletic program.

Here are the reasons:

The House That Howard Built (also known as the Tom Oxley Athletic Center) -- Most of the non-football coaches wouldn’t have had nice new offices in the Tom Oxley Center, the building that is a huge recruiting tool for all the sports. Does anyone remember what FAU’s facilities were like before The Voice came along and used his reputation and name to loosen up so many wallets, in particular that of Tom Oxley, and get that building built?

Take a tour of that building, with its locker rooms, weight room, computer rooms, classrooms, Founders Lounge, etc, etc. It would never have been built without The Voice and football, and without it FAU would now be having a much harder time recruiting. That isn’t lost on coaches of other sports.

Salaries Have Gone Up -- Having football has helped coaches of other sports get raises. Salaries are developed by looking at the pay scale within the same conference, and having football jump from I-AA to I-A and into the Sun Belt has provided coaches with decent raises over the last couple years, with baseball, softball, and basketball coaches at or above $100,000.

Football has the best chance of being a moneymaker – The program is not there yet, but if there is to be a sport at FAU that breaks even, it will be football. Guarantee games will only pay more and more. Right now FAU can get upwards of $500,000 for a game. Ticket sales are projected to be $270,000 this season (plus $19,000 for parking and programs), with the next highest men’s basketball at $32,000.

With an on-campus stadium, attendance and ticket sales should rise, especially if FAU can bring in some decent teams on top of the Belt teams they will host each season. And if football makes money, every sport benefits.

Football brings attention – I-A football draws a lot of national interest, and scores go into nearly every paper and crawl across every major sports channel and team profiles are widely spread in national publications and the internet. FA Who? is being replaced by, “Oh, yeah, Florida Atlantic. Schnellenberger is the coach there, right?”

ENVY, NOT DISLIKE

If there is any feeling toward football, it is envy. Football gets the most attention, both on campus and in the media. But what does anyone expect? Florida is a football state and football is the number one sport in the country. The Voice is a coach with a well-deserved national reputation with a national title on his resume, and he is the face of FAU athletics.

So, no, other coaches don’t dislike football. Sure, some may grumble a bit, but the bottom line is football is the 500-pound gorilla for reasons they understand, and FAU’s athletic program would be worse off without it.

June 4, 2007

The Donovan Thing

> Posted by Ted Hutton on June 4, 2007 05:42 PM

The Billy Gone, Billy Back affair reminded me of a conversation I had with The Voice a couple years ago. I was working on a story and sat down with him in his hotel room on a road trip.

Whenever you talk with The Voice, you learn just how many great coaches he has worked with and how much he has learned from working with such people.

We got on the subject of what a football team can mean to a community, how it can be something to rally around and feel proud of, and how the coach of that team can help shape the will of the people.

That led to The Voice recalling working as an assistant to Bear Bryant at Alabama in the early 1960s, which is where he learned that lesson first-hand. In the case of Alabama, though, it was not just a community or region, it was the entire state.

The Voice said some people had approached Bryant and asked him to run for governor, something that apparently caught the interest of Bryant.

The Voice said he remembers Bryant being asked why he would possibly want to quit being a coach to become a politician. “Half the people will love you, half the people will hate you,” The Voice said. While as coach, the entire state not just loved Bryant, but revered him. His friends told Bryant he had more influence by being on the sidelines with a whistle around his neck than being in the governor’s mansion.

Obviously Bryant took the advice of his friends and stayed out of politics. Can anyone name even one person who served as governor of Alabama?

The Voice went on to work for Shula, one of the few NFL coaches who have had a similar effect on a region, along with the likes of Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi.

Then The Voice created some magic of his own at Miami, capturing the hearts of South Florida fans by turning the Hurricanes into national champions. Remember the billboards with Howard puffing on his pipe? If you weren’t around in the early 80s, you might not understand how big The Voice was back then. He then repeated that feat in Louisville. Never on the scale of Bryant in Alabama, but he is still revered in Miami and Louisville.

By staying at Florida, Donovan can remain in the bosom of the Gator Nation and has a chance to become a legendary coach. Coaching in the NBA is nothing like being a college coach. It is almost the equivalent of becoming a politician. The same is now true in football, where new Shulas, Landrys and Lombardis seem no longer possible in an NFL, where teams are becoming more like corporations.

Nick Saban found that out and decided to make a quick exit back to college, which will probably turn out to be a good move for him, as long as the Crimson Tide can win.

Which leads to another What If? What if The Voice had stayed at UM? How would it have altered the future? How many national titles could he have won? Would Bobby Bowden be in his shadow? Would Spurrier have been possible? Would FAU have been able to create a football program without him?

June 1, 2007

What's Ahead

> Posted by Ted Hutton on June 1, 2007 08:11 AM

The Owls learned that the Belt is a tougher place to play than the Atlantic Sun, which makes restocking the roster important.

There is no doubt FAU is losing a lot even without the draft, but just how much they lose won’t be known until after the draft, when players who get picked decide if the money is enough to make them leave.

That’s what makes coaching college baseball so crazy. There are only a few elite teams in other sports that can lose a significant number of underclassmen to the pros. Take UF basketball this year. In baseball, it happens every June. FAU has seen at least a couple of its top players take the money and run every season.

Here’s why: Players become eligible for the draft after their junior seasons. That is the one year they have leverage over the pro teams that want them, because they can opt to come back for their senior season if they don’t feel they are getting enough of a signing bonus.

Once they return, though, that leverage is gone. After their senior season, what else can they do but sign, and for whatever the pro teams offers. It’s a tough decision, especially for those drafted after the first five or six rounds, when the money really drops.

Of those, Storey, Philabaum, Bomback and Cook are the most likely to go. McKenna had a great season, but the pro scouts are looking for different things. That’s why someone like Philabaum, who had a terrible year, is still expected to get picked because at 6-3, 205 and an arm that can throw the ball in the mid-90s he has what the pros want, while Obradovich (6-0, 185) might get passed up despite putting up much better numbers.

Widlansky, Cook and Bomback were three of FAU’s top four hitters, and that is a lot of offense to lose.

WHO IS BACK

Well, you have SS Nick Arata, C Alex Silversmith who took a medical redshirt this season, 3B William Block.

Pitching-wise, Obradovich will probably be back, and there is a possibility Storey may come back if he doesn’t get the money he is looking for. He will still be a junior next year since he will get a medical redshirt for this season, meaning he could really cash in if he stays and has a strong year.

Alex Pepe was one of the few relievers who had a decent season, and Cooney is hoping he can move into a starting spot. Chris Eberhart will be back, along with Kenny Gray, who was injured all this season. Mike Salivar will also return.

Not a lot of big names there. More potential than proven talent. If Storey returns, that is a huge boost. If not…

Cooney is not too concerned, though he did say this is the first season in a while he still has some recruiting to do since he is not sure what the roster will look like.

Cooney said injuries and a pitching staff that did not perform to its potential were the big problems this season.

“We have to restock the cupboard and make sure they all stay healthy,” he said.

THE PLEA

And for those who missed it, Cooney posted a season wrapup on the Owls fans board that included this rant:

THE STADIUM...We have the worst facility of any SBC school we visited this season. Since 1999, every school in Florida, except two, have either redone their baseball facility, built a new one, or have the plan and money in hand. The two that have nothing are FAMU and FAU. During that same span, FAU has won more games than all Florida schools except two. Something seems wrong.

THE FUTURE...Other sections of this board are filled with cries of desperation for a football stadium. They say it's needed to build a program.

We've already built a national program, but it is in danger of backsliding. We try to avoid having top recruits visit because the facility has cost us some top level guys over the last few years. Two of them wound up laying in the College World Series for other schools.

Since 1999, I have been "a voice crying in the wilderness" about the need for a true college stadium. Eight years have passed since I sat down with President Catanese and showed him blow- ups of FIU, Stetson, and UCF. All we have to show since then are two port-a-johns for the teams to use during games.

Everyone says we need a baseball stadium, but it gets drowned out by the dreams of domes and innovative villages. It would seem easier to get $6-8 million for a baseball facility than the $40 million naming rights for football.
Maybe not.

All solid points.But FAU athletics has always been chronically short of two things: fans and money. Despite its success, FAU baseball has not attracted the interest of local fans. If you build it, will they come?

Football can't brag about its attendance, and building a 30,000 seat stadium is a huge risk. Can FAU afford to take two such gambles?

DIETER KURTENBACH a Chicago native and 2010 Missouri School of Journalism graduate, has covered Missouri Tigers athletics for KCOU radio and the Columbia Missourian, Major League Soccer for Comcast SportsNet-Chicago, and lunch orders for ESPN Radio-Chicago. Kurtenbach was part of the Missourian team that earned first place in "Breaking News" at the 2010 Associated Press Sports Editors awards, but his real passion is his constant quest to find the world’s best sandwich – if you have a tip, don’t hesitate to send it his way.